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Mounir A.S. Mapping the semiotics of religion: Historical, methodological, and interdisciplinary trajectories from proto-semiotics to textual exegesis. ΠΡΑΞΗMΑ. Journal of Visual Semiotics. 2026. Issue 3 (49). P. 157-177

The semiotics of religion significantly advances semiotics as a science by examining its core principles through the lens of religion’s complex nature and its culturally embedded sign systems. By systematically analysing prior semiotics-of-religion research, this study aims to advance the categorisation of semiotics of religion grounded on Patte and Voyat’s three-group classification. This study contributes to the current trend of semiotics of religion through the lens of its historical and methodological patterns by mapping proto-semiotic intuitions in classics, including important figures in semiotics such as Eliade and Durkheim and explicit theories (Peirce, Greimas) alongside promising textual analyses (e.g., Patte, Panier, and Leone). The main purpose is to reveal persistent gaps, methodological biases, and unexplored interdisciplinary potential. The study also holds practical importance, enriching our understanding of contemporary issues in religious studies by bridging anthropology, biblical exegesis, and theology.

Keywords: semiotics of religion, tripartite taxonomy, implicit semiotic elements, explicit semiotic theories, semiotic analyses texts, methodological maturation